PHILADELPHIA-- This has always been an Eagles town.
That NFL franchise dominates conversation on the influential radio talk shows, local television broadcasts and newspaper columns every fall. And given the way Chip Kelly's team has been obliterating playoff contenders in preseason exhibition games, interest has been at an all-time high.
“After watching the Eagles and Sam Bradford, people should just watch us and wait for the playoffs,” Temple football coach Matt Rhule said.
Temple football has an opportunity to showcase its product this season with signature nonleague home games against Penn State and Notre Dame at Lincoln Financial Stadium – two college teams that most generic fans in the area follow closely.
The Owls are a program on the rise. Temple was 6-6 last year with wins over Vanderbilt and East Carolina and, with the return of quarterback P.J. Walker and 19 returning starters-- the most in The American-- including 10 from a defense that was ranked in the top 25 nationally in all major categories. The Owls are considered a dark horse in the conference's East Division and have a legitimate shot at a high-level bowl game.
Temple opens with Penn State Saturday in a nationally televised 3:30 p.m. season-opener in front of what is expected to be a sold out crowd of 68,532. The Labor Day weekend crowd should be split. This is a chance for the Owls, who have not beaten the Nittany Lions in 39 straight meetings since 1941 -- 74 years ago -- to make a bold statement by beating a Big Ten team in Philadelphia for the first time in school history.
“I think it's great for people to see just what this could be,” Rhule said. “I think the gameday operation at the Linc has just improved to a point where it's a big-time operation right now. We do a flyover and the stadium is decorated. It looks awesome.
“One out of every seven college graduates in this area went to Temple. How to you get those people to come and see what's here? Having these big time teams come in, it draws more people and then you have more people going out and saying, 'Hey, that Temple team, that's a good team. It's a great value, a great afternoon. And that gives you a chance to build your brand.”
No one has to tell long suffering Philadelphia sports fans what a win over a traditionally solid Penn State team would mean in terms of building street credibility with the local college community, or the fertile recruiting grounds in the suburbs and South Jersey. The last great major college team from this city was back in 1979, when Temple went 10-2 and defeated Cal in the Garden State Bowl.
Temple has been close against Penn State in the past, especially during the Wayne Hardin era, only to have its heart broken over and over again. Hardin, who was just elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, had the Nittany Lions on the ropes in 1975 at Franklin Field before Rich Mauti returned a punt 64 yards for the winning touchdown with under a minute left to lift Penn State to a 26-25 win. The next year at Veterans Stadium, Hardin went for a two-point conversion for the win and the pass was dropped to allow Penn State to escape with a 31-30 victory. The last time Penn State traveled here from State College, in 2011, the Owls pushed the Nittany Lions to the brink again, but Penn State held on for a 14-10 victory with two late game interceptions.
Penn State won, 30-13, late last year at Beaver Stadium, overcoming the fact that Temple largely contained quarterback Christian Hackenberg -- limiting him to 112 yards passing and a 67.0 pass efficiency.
With that in mind, Rhule, who played linebacker at Penn State for Joe Paterno from 1994 through 1997, has seen this game from both sides of the spectrum.
“I'd like to think they respect us,” said Rhule. “I know over the years at Penn State, they felt Temple was going to be a physical game. I'm sure that for the first game, their attention is on us. And I think on our side, we probably put too much attention on them. We're trying to get our guys to focus on themselves. We can't control how good Christian Hackenberg or (All American defensive tackle Anthony) Zettel or any of their other great players are. We can control how we play and we prepare. So we're trying to take that approach. We don't want to get caught up in the grandeur of the game and hoping by focusing on ourselves we can play as well as we can play.”
Temple may not sign many players who are four and five star prospects on the national recruiting lists, but the talent on this team, while undersized, is undervalued because Temple coaches since Al Golden have learned how to effectively evaluate players who fit the culture of an urban university on North Broad Street. Three seniors -- center Kyle Friend, defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis and linebacker Tyler Matakevich -- could play for any team in the country. Matakevich, who is on the preseason watch list for every major defensive award, enters the season with an NCAA-leading 355 career tackles.
“As long as we don't beat ourselves, we have a chance (against Penn State),” Matakevich claimed. “I've watched that tape hundreds of times. I know what we have to do.”
In order to be competitive, Temple must find a way to move the ball, most likely on the edges since the middle of Penn State's defense may be difficult to penetrate. The Owls may frustrate themselves if they try to run up the gut against tackles Austin Johnson and Zettel, linebacker Nyheem Wartman and safety Marcus Allen. And the Owls cannot forget their identity or they could be a victim of their own hype.
Last season, Penn State was just too physical for Temple in the running game. “This offseason we got back to the grindstone and just got after it,” Ioannidis said. “We really emphasized being physical. We're one of the most physical teams in the country.”
We got a taste of that the other day when the Temple defense walked off the field with tempers raised, something Rhule was happy to see. ”I was really proud of practice,” he said. “I think, anyone who was here saw, the defense was fighting as we walked off. They're brothers and they're going to argue. But that's how much they care about how they practice. They're out there having to talk out how they practice.”
The expectations for Temple are higher than normal this season and Philadelphia fans are watching. But there is always the fear the Owls could make this game bigger than it is because they haven't beaten Penn State for so long.
“For our guys to understand, really good teams are good week-in and week-out,” Rhule said. “So, we can't put too much on one or else you'll naturally put less significance on another. They understand what it's like to play a great team like Penn State. My thing is, understand what it is to play a really good team, not to play Penn State. It's not the name, it's how good of a team they are.”
The message has apparently gotten through to the leaders of this team.
“I think it's just people making it out to be bigger than it is,” Matakevich claimed. “For me, it's just another opportunity for me to hit somebody. We have enough experience on this team to stay focused. It would be awesome to be 1-0, but we've got Cincinnati Sept. 12 in a big conference game. There is so much talent in this conference. There is no game where you can just show up. You have to bring your A game.
“If you're not ready to play, you're going to get smacked around.”